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4/18/04
The job market Two recent surveys suggest the hiring picture is brightening for the class of 2004. As of mid-March, 18 percent of graduating students said they had landed full-time employment, according to a report from Experience Inc., a Boston provider of college career networks. Last year, only 8 percent of the class of 2003 had full-time employment by May. The top fields of interest for '04 graduates who have secured full-time employment were financial services (30 percent), accounting (23 percent), computer software/hardware/services (18 percent), and engineering (14 percent). Over 2,500 graduating students from over 430 colleges and universities across the nation participated in the Experience Inc. survey. Most college seniors say they are optimistic about finding work despite the uncertain economy, according to a separate online survey by Yahoo HotJobs of 600 college students in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco. How confident are grads-to-be? Of those surveyed, more than half said they have not started looking for full-time employment, and more than one-third believe it will take only one to three months to find that first job. Seventeen percent think it will take four to six months, 10 percent believe they will probably spend about six months, and 25 percent are not sure how long it will take, the survey said. Boston area women are leading those who are pounding the pavement, with 29 percent already looking for a job, according to the HotJobs survey. By contrast, only 19 percent of female seniors in San Francisco have started searching for work. Next to Boston, that city had the second highest number of graduating women who have been combing the job market for work. Boston's college seniors have reason to worry. Massachusetts has shed 79,000 jobs since economic recovery began, according to a state unemployment report. Of those, 9,000 were lost in February, suggesting that workers in the commonwealth are still wrestling with unemployment despite reports that hiring is starting to pick up in other states. Among college seniors who plan to delay their job searches until after they graduate, 9 percent of the women in Boston plan to begin right after they get their degrees. In Los Angeles, by contrast, just 1 percent of the women surveyed will look for work immediately after they graduate. Many students in other cities have indicated that they will likely wait to begin the job search process. In all, 21 percent of the students polled said they would not look for a job because they plan to go to graduate school. Fourteen percent will begin working right after they graduate. Overall, 35 percent of all college seniors surveyed said they would take a temporary job or make money through odd or part-time jobs if they do not find permanent full-time employment, according to the survey.
Workplace Food service workers have fewer protections against secondhand smoke than white-collar professionals, according to a study funded by the American Legacy Foundation. In a ranking of 38 major occupations, food service workers ranked at the bottom of those workers protected by smoke-free workplace policies. White-collar workers, including teachers and those in healthcare, have the greatest protections from secondhand smoke on the job. However, Massachusetts food service workers are less likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke than their peers in other states. In all, 66 percent of food service employees in this state were employed in smoke-free environments in 1999. Nationally, by contrast, only 52 percent of such workers were employed in smoke-free workplaces, according to data provided by the foundation. The difference in exposure rates can be attributed to Massachusetts' aggressive push to reduce secondhand smoke in workplaces throughout the state. That doesn't mean that all food service employees here are free of risk, however. Nationwide, including in Massachusetts, food service workers appear to be more likely to work in smoke-filled conditions than white-collar workers. In 1999, for example, 83 percent of all white-collar employees in Massachusetts held jobs that were in smoke-free environments, 17 percent more than food service workers, state records show.
Self-employment More jobless managers and executives are becoming entrepreneurs. A survey of 3,000 business leaders whose jobs were terminated in the first quarter of 2004 reveals that 10.1 percent started an enterprise of their own, said Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the Chicago outplacement firm. According to the firm, that first quarter start-up rate was 51 percent higher than the 6.7 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2003. It is also the highest level of new entrepreneurial activity among executives since 10.6 percent launched businesses in the third quarter of 2000. The survey revealed that 88 percent of those who started a business were age 40 or older, up from 74 percent in the fourth quarter. ''These older individuals may have the most confidence in their abilities to establish a business," said chief executive John A. Challenger. ''Not only do they have years of experience and business know-how, but through their careers, they have probably established an extensive list of professional contacts." He said older job seekers may also be motivated by a ''nothing to lose attitude." ''The economy is finally starting to re-energize," he said. ''Interest rates on loans are still low. Even if one's retirement savings were damaged during the slump, the chances of rebuilding it entirely with a traditional salaried position are slim. Why not risk building a business that could strike it rich?" According to the Small Business Administration, firms with fewer than 500 employees have been responsible for 73 percent of the job creation in this country. In all, 64 percent of managers and executives who sought work found jobs at small firms in the first quarter, up from 50 percent in the previous quarter, the survey found. The information suggests that these companies are beginning to hire executives and other key personnel. -- DIANE E. LEWIS
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